Dennis Kucinich is on the ballot but the guy who leads Kucinich by five points head to head isn’t?

The party’s executive council voted 14 to 3 to refuse Colbert’s application for a spot on the ballot.

“The general sense of the council was that he wasn’t a serious candidate and that was why he wasn’t selected to be on the ballot,” said Joe Werner, the party’s director. “There was discussion — I wouldn’t call it a heated debate — but there was discussion about it.”…

The Democrats had to decide whether they considered Colbert to be a bona fide Democrat who is nationally viable and has spent time campaigning in the state…

Another issue the council may have considered: the state Democratic Party has to pay the state a $20,000 fee for each name it places on the ballot.

He’s not nationally viable, unlike, say, Mike Gravel. Somewhat surprisingly, the left appears to be quite comfortable with their hero getting torpedoed. As much as they worship Colby and Stewart, who are always I-agree-with-you! “hilarious” even when they’re not actually hilarious, both Eric Boehlert and Rachel Sklar fired shots across the bow last week when Colbert started talking about running in earnest. Ostensibly it’s because we’re supposed to be weeding out the unserious candidates now, although I’ve a hunch that neither one of them is in a terrible hurry to see Ron Paul exit stage left or opposed to a Dobson-approved social con emerging as a third-party challenger to grab 10% from the GOP. What they’re really worried about is Colbert surprising people with a stronger showing than expected, which would suggest disgruntlement among the base in a year when the narrative is supposed to be “strong, united Democrats vs. disorganized, floundering GOP.”

He needs 10,000 signatures to run as an independent. Godspeed.